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posted by janrinok on Thursday September 22 2016, @08:15AM   Printer-friendly
from the for-some-values-of-small-scale dept.

What if it were possible to quickly and inexpensively manufacture a part simply by using a series of close-range digital images taken of the object?

Michael Immel, instructor in the Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, originally started thinking about the technique, called photogrammetry, for a different purpose, but quickly realized its application in manufacturing.

In this technique, digital images of an object that have been taken at various angles are used to create a point cloud -- or a large collection of points used to create 3D representation of existing structures -- from which a computer-aided design (CAD) file can be generated.

The resulting CAD file and subsequent 3D model could then be used to rebuild the part, or 3D print it, to its original specifications without using traditional methods, which are both expensive and time-consuming.

Surely you'd need an X-ray of internal structures, too?


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 22 2016, @04:56PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 22 2016, @04:56PM (#405192)

    If the top can't be removed, how would you even go about milling that structure out even if you /could/ map its internals? Even a 3D printer would probably leave support lattice on the inside that would have to be cleaned out somehow.

    I'm not sure point cloud scanning was ever meant be used with things that can only be done by highly specialized casting operations.
    The idea should be something like content-aware fill in photoshop; let the software do most of the gruntwork, then load it into cad and do the last 10% of refinement by hand.

  • (Score: 2) by JNCF on Thursday September 22 2016, @07:35PM

    by JNCF (4317) on Thursday September 22 2016, @07:35PM (#405242) Journal

    Even a 3D printer would probably leave support lattice on the inside that would have to be cleaned out somehow.

    I think that depends on the printing method. I don't see any reason why an internal scaffolding would be necessary for that object if printed using stereolithography. [youtube.com] Even if I'm missing something and that wouldn't work, there are printers that automatically remove their scaffoldings with an acid bath. I think GP AC has a valid point, albeit one that was already made by Phoenix666 in TFS.